When Cosgraves first launched its Ardilea Wood development in 2000 the large redbrick houses were the first properties in the country to command an asking price of £1million. The houses had sealed bids and sold in a matter of weeks. In 2006 these properties changed hands for as much as €3.5 million.
Thirteen years after the number eight first came to market, as the development's showhouse, the five-bedroom detached property is asking €1.25 million through agent Owen Reilly.
The 260 square metre former showhouse is looking good. The décor is in need of a repaint but former models go this is the Twiggy of showhouses, a property with good bones that has lost none of its lustre.
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In its day the property featured the best of new materials and they have proven their worth. Its Shaker-style kitchen still looks good 13 years after its installation. Adjoining the kitchen is a lovely bright breakfast room – a great place for the family to gather. To the front is a family room with a box bay window, a cherrywood floor and a marble surround fireplace.
On the other side of the hall there are two reception rooms. A really bright dining room to the rear has sliding doors that lead out to the patio. The front sitting room has a lovely round window accent.
The house comes with a bone fide office that overlooks the back garden. It is bright with plenty of storage and shelving and feels like a proper room rather than an annexed afterthought.
On the first floor there are five roomy bedrooms. The master is to the front of the house and has access to a decorative but narrow, east-facing, balcony. It has a shower en suite bathroom, built in wardrobes and a trouser press, one of the only mod cons that didn’t make the transition to the 21st century.
A spiral staircase leads up to the second floor where there is a sizeable attic room, currently laid out as a bedroom with an appealing under-the-eaves ensuite bathroom and plenty of storage.
The house has a small but perfectly formed west-facing back garden.
